VOID [Katsuki Bakugo x OC]

Rule #16: Make Yourself Useful

♪

 "Pssst, Kat... How's your arm?"

Eyes closed and music blasting in his headphones, Katsuki frowned and popped one eye open to find Cadence watching him with those dark eyes of hers, damn-near pouting like a puppy with her headphones around her neck. Clouds shuffled past them outside the airplane window, crisp white against perfect blue.

Katsuki had been busy pondering those big questions from their talk in the back of the car the day previous, and wanted to get back to thinking about his fate and his fuck ups and his future. "I'm fine," he grunted, closing his eyes once more. "Fuck off, Blue. I'm thinking about shit."

"Like what?"

Without looking at her, Katsuki grumbled, "About smothering you to death with your neck pillow if you don't fuckin' leave me alone."

"I was just curious. Jeez, Kat. Angry, much?"

"Shut the fuck up, much?"

At that, Cadence stuck her tongue out at her bodyguard, flopping back against her seat with a little too much emotion, shaking Kat's seat too while they both yanked their headphones back up. She huffed and crossed her arms, cheeks warm with frustration and flirting. At least, she thought he was flirting. Maybe he wasn't. Who knows with Kat. Did flirts typically contain so many swear words?

Cade didn't get much time to think about it. Ine and Bryant sidled up to their row of seats, gesturing wildly for them to remove their headphones. Feeling a little rambunctious, Cade pretended she couldn't hear them over her music, but in reality, she didn't have anything playing. She could hear their underhanded comments and whispered swears just fine.

Finally, at the end of her rope, Ine snatched the headphones from Cadence's head, slam-dunking them into the ground hard enough to shatter the delicate framework into a million little pieces.

"What the fuck, mom?" Cade blurted.

Bryant stepped forward and slapped Cadence without hesitation.

A bright pop of pain exploded across Cade's cheekbone, metallic blood seeping over her tongue from where she'd cut her cheek on her teeth. Blood pooling in her mouth and spilling over, already dripping from her chin, Cadence gaped at her stepdad while he shouted incoherently at her about treating Ine with more respect.

Red flashed out of the corner of his eye and Katsuki finally noticed something was happening. "Whoa, what the fuck?" After tearing off his sweatshirt, balling it up, and holding it to Cade's face, Kat spat, "What the actual hell?"

Ine pursed her lips and turned up her nose, as if Cadence were bleeding all over their private jet to purposely provoke her mother. Then, Ine ignored her altogether, speaking directly to Kat. "Aria has fallen ill and Jiro has volunteered to keep an eye on her. We've already informed the venue and altered the promotional materials to reflect that you will be performing in her stead."

Before Katsuki could get a word in edgewise, Cadence countered with something unintelligible from behind a mouthful of black sweatshirt, and repeated herself when Kat pulled the makeshift gauze from her mouth. "He doesn't know the music," Cade argued. Under flushed cheeks and a bloody scowl, she glared daggers at her parents. "He couldn't possibly be concert-ready by tonight."

Like a hive mind, Bryant and Ine shared a synchronized sigh before Bryant answered tightly, "We trust that he'll make himself useful and make the right decision."

And on that ambiguous (and definitely threatening) note, Ine and Bryant took their leave, wandering back up to the front of the plane. A flood of texts bombarded Cadence's phone the second they were out of earshot. Vibrating in the pouch of her oversized sweatshirt, Cade's phone drowned under the deluge of concerned and confused messages from her siblings about what happened, none of them willing to say anything aloud or do anything about the situation for fear of retaliation from their parents. Of course they heard the whole conversation... a private jet could only be so private.